CLEOMENES, SON OF ANAXANDRIDAS 1
[1] Cleomenes, the son of Anaxandridas, said that Homer was the poet of the Spartans, and Hesiod of the Helots; for Homer had given the necessary directions for fighting, and Hesiod for farming.
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[2] Having made an armistice of seven days with the Argives, he kept a watch on them, and on the third night, when they were sleeping because of their reliance on the truce, he attacked them, and slew some and took the others prisoners.
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[3] When he was reproached for his violation of his oath, he said that he had not included the nights as well as the days in his plighted word; and anyway, whatever ill one can do to one’s enemies is regarded, among both gods and men, as something vastly higher than justice.
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[4] It was his fortune to be repulsed from Argos, to gain which he had violated the truce, owing to the women’s taking down the weapons in the shrines and defending themselves against him with these.
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Later he went out of his mind, and, getting hold of a small dagger, he slashed himself, beginning with his ankles until he reached the vital parts, and thus departed this life laughing and grinning.
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[5] The seer tried to dissuade him from leading his army against the city of the Argives, for the return, he said, would be made in disgrace. But when Cleomenes had advanced near the city, and saw the gates closed and the women upon the walls, he said,
Does it seem to you that the return from here can be made in disgrace, where, since the men are dead, the women have barred the gates?
[6] In answer to those of the Argives who upbraided him as an impious perjurer, he said,
You have the power to speak ill of me, but I have the power to do ill to you.
[7] To the ambassadors from Samos who urged him to make war upon the despot Poly crates, and for this reason spoke at great length, he said,
What you said at the beginning I do not remember; for that reason I do not comprehend the middle part; and the conclusion I do not approve.
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[8] A certain pirate overran the country, and, when he was captured, said,
I had not the means to provide subsistence for my soldiers; therefore, to those who had it, but would not willingly give it, I came with the purpose of taking it by force. To this Cleomenes said,
Villainy is curt.
[9] When a certain low fellow spoke ill of him, he said,
So it is for this reason, is it, that you speak ill of everyone, that we, busied in defending ourselves, may not have time to speak of your baseness?
[10] When one of the citizens said that the good king ought to be mild at all times and in every way, he remarked,
Yes, but not to the extent of being despised.
[11] When he was afflicted with a lingering illness, and began to give attention to mind-healers and seers, to whom formerly he had given no attention, someone expressed surprise.
Why are you surprised? said he;
for I am not now the same man that I was, and, not being the same man, I do not approve the same things.
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[12] When a public lecturer spoke at considerable length about bravery, he burst out laughing; and when the man said,
Why do you laugh, Cleomenes, at hearing a man speak about bravery, and that, too, when you are a king?
Because, my friend, he said,
if it had been a swallow speaking about it, T should have done the same thing, but if it had been an eagle, I should have kept very quiet.
[14] When someone upbraided him, saying,
You are inclined to luxury, Cleomenes, he said,
Well, that is better than being unjust. And you are avaricious although you possess property enough.
[15] When someone, wishing to introduce a musician to him, said, in addition to other commendations, that the man was the best musician among the Greeks, Cleomenes pointed to one of the persons near, and said,
Yonder man, I swear, ranks with me as the best soup-maker.
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[16] Maeandrius, the despot of Samos, because of the inroad of the Persians, fled to Sparta, and exhibited all the gold and silver vessels which he had brought with him, and offered to favour Cleomenes with as many as he wished; but he would have none, and, taking good care that the man should not distribute any among the rest of the citizens, he went to the Ephors and said that it was better for Sparta that his own friend and guest from Samos should withdraw from the Peloponnesus, so that he should not persuade anyone of the Spartans to become a bad man. And they listened to his advice and proclaimed the expulsion of Maeandrius that very day.
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[17] When someone said,
Why have you not killed off the people of Argos who wage war against you so often? he said,
Oh, we would not kill them off, for we want to have some trainers for our young men.
[18] When somebody inquired of him why Spartans do not dedicate to the gods the spoils from their enemies, he said,
Because they are taken from cowards.
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Apophthegmata Laconica. Plutarch. Frank Cole Babbitt (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1931.
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